Labour Councillor Paul McMahon's letter on car parking and the District Council (Review, last week) raises a number of important points that the Labour group on the Council has discussed a number of times, and will be addressing again later this week.

As Labour Group Leader, I would like to clarify a number of issues on which we have been clear over recent months.

Firstly, we certainly have no confidence in this Tory-led administration, and that relates to many more issues than just car parking, although this is an important issue for local people, whether shopping, commuting, or trying to run a successful business. We have been and remain very concerned that the positive impact on Council finances that was promised has not occurred, while the negative impact that was warned about has been all too evident. With a looming Council deficit, however, this may not be the time to make the change that local people seem to desperately want.

Secondly, there is no Labour group policy to seek coalition with other groups and independent council members. This is a clear policy, and one that I do not expect to change in the near future. Conservative policies are damaging Foresters and the local economy, but Labour does not yet have the numbers to overturn that.

– Di Martin, Labour leader Forest of Dean District Council.